Fate Rides Wicked: Volume I of the Lerilon Trilogy (48 page)

Findra became impatient and broke from the group to
come forward. “Take us to Commander-General Cort,
Captain.”

“Yes, my lady,” responded Oledal quickly but with
some embarrassment. He should have been leading them in
that direction while he talked.

“Reichet and I are going to find Zif. We’ll join you
later,” said Tendelbro. To the patrol he said, “Can one of
you take us there?” Two neftir came forward and the
commanders dismounted. The other expedition members
took the empty horses by the reins and followed Oledal into
camp.

When they could see Cort outside his tent talking to two
soldiers, Andri turned to Oledal. “Captain, we’ll be
needing all of the current commanders and generals in the
war tent immediately after the zenith meal. Let everybody
know we’ve arrived. We’ll go on our own from here.”
Oledal bowed and took his squad back towards its current
circuit.

Findra led them to just behind Cort. The endaril turned
around as the soldiers pointed behind him. “Greetings
Prince di Corl, Commander-General Cort, My Lord and
Heir of Morg. We have returned.”

“Well, get off those animals, Commanders.” As they
dismounted he turned to the men. “Generals, this is half of
the expedition that recruited you.” Cort introduced the
generals of Fendol and Concrof to each of the commanders.
“You are dismissed,” he said with the last introduction.

Before the generals could go, Andri said, “Wait. As
you will hear, there will be a strategy meeting in the war
tent after the zenith meal. All commanders and generals
are to be there. We have been given final plans of battle by
Prince Tych di Corl, Commander General above Prince
Cort.” The generals saluted by crossing their hands over
their chest and bowing, then left.

“Come into the tent my friends,” Cort said as they
followed him in. “You must tell me about the expedition.
What is the status of the other two armies? Where are the
others?”

“We can answer some of those questions, Cort. The
expedition was too long to tell of everything in one meal.”
Nandel took a seat at the table in the long tent. Perhaps two
score more men could fit around the remaining tables.
“The Murlan army should leave today. Tych, Lendril,
Loktaro, Wiltev and Sir Xalt are training Lake’s army. It
will be here a week before the Feast of Growth. We
already took Cert home. Ofeldar and Aquendar
disappeared the morning before we split up. We suspect
Tych sent them on a mission, but we do not know for sure.”
Endarilan servants brought in plates of meats and fruit and
jugs of water. Nandel filled his plate. “The neftir went to
see General Zif. They will join us later.”

“I wish you weren’t being so matter-of-fact. We have
thirteen weeks to prepare.”

Findra put down her fork. “Twelve wet and cold ones.
Don’t worry, as soon as we get the army set on its tracks,
we will tell you of our journeys. There will be plenty of
time trapped in these tents when the winter storms hit.
Besides, it’s best that we ease back into what we’re used to
after those experiences. For the first time in a season we’ll
be off horses for more than a week.” The table broke into
laughter.

“Our first line of battle will be the Andarins.” Findra
stood in front of twenty-six commanders and generals in
front of a map of the land from the Valley of Darkness to
Polentair. “Our goal is to string out what we expect will be
an army twice our size.” Tych had each of his commanders
memorize a portion of the battle plan so one wouldn’t
forget.

A human general said, “We can’t expect to win against
those odds. Why will it be so big?”

“For the last ten years Rangdor has been relatively
inactive. From what we know, he should have an equal
number of forangen and xadineft in his caves to those that
have moved north over the past weeks. And we can expect
to win. With these plans we are about to present, we expect
to lose no more than half the army. The process will begin
with the mounted forces riding across the Plain of Death to
lead Rangdor’s army in a chase back to the mountains,
where the archers will begin their devastation from the
trees.”

Findra sat and Andri replaced her. “The neftir will be
the first forces the enemy meets when it reaches the trees.
The objective won’t be to drive the army back, but to string
it out along the trees to the east and west in a chase. The
mounted forces will ride hard, with the pemilons leading, to
where siege engines will be waiting. Commander General
Lendril will lead the forces of Lake behind the engines at a
dead run. Prince Tych will battle Rangdor as far from the
fighting as possible.”

“Why the siege engines? We won’t be defending
parapets or walls.”

“They will be used to decimate the rear ranks, allowing
more time to carve into the enemy before they can push up
reserves. Rendind has more.”

The hiftnuvin commander came to the map. “The
armies of Lake will turn from behind the siege engines as
soon as their work is done. They will set up position a mile
north of the rear ranks of Rangdor’s army, ready to charge
the rear flank or destroy a retreat. The mounted forces will
return to the main army just this side of the Andarins and
the pemilons will resume the pounding of the siege engines.
Eagles will fly with the gold dragons and millions of little
birds to do battle with Rangdor’s air forces.”

“We’ve never seen much of Rangdor’s minions of the
air. What can we expect?”

“The flying part of our army will face gargoyles,
demons, other birds and probably some other strange
creations of Rangdor. Tendelbro will tell you about the
ground portion of our attack from here.”

“Once the riders have reached the top of the pass,
where the rest of the army will be waiting, they will turn
and lead the charge. Upon reaching the plain, the mounted
men will split the enemy army and strive to reach the army
of Lake. The soldiers on foot are to stay away from the
middle of Rangdor’s forces. Once the horses have
informed Princess Lendril to begin her assault, they will
ride west. This will place the army of Lake to the north,
the mounted forces to the west, the pemilons and siege
engines to the east and the bulk of our army to the south of
Rangdor’s army. The main army’s job is to force the
enemy into specially designed units which will separate the
different groupings of Rangdor’s forces.”

The general of Concrof spoke as Nandel replaced the
neftir. “Will we be facing demons and other creatures on
the ground?”

Nandel shook his head. “There may be a few. The
magicians and clerics will travel to the north end of the
Plain of Death the day before our forces head into the
mountains. We will hope to have eliminated most of the
supernatural and magic beings. You all must be aware that
some will still be among the enemy army, including giants
and magicians.”

One of the more superstitious commanders asked,
“How are we supposed to beat magicians? Giants are flesh
and blood but with that magic, I don’t know what
magicians are.”

“I and all magicians are flesh and blood also. Just
remind your men that it takes time and preparation to cast a
spell. If a member of the enemy army is discovered to be a
magician, the men should do everything they can to distract
or disrupt the calm around the spell caster, whether its
firing arrows, daggers or rocks, or pushing a forangen into
him.”

“What is the danger of an early attack?”

“It exists,” said the magician, “but all of the magicians
will take turns watching for any signs of departure from the
Valley of Darkness. And, by the time the battle is over, the
magicians and others will have destroyed the Valley of
Darkness, assuming Tych is victorious. Between now and
the Feast of Growth, you will all have your armies
organized into mixed squads of several races each. Till the
next meeting, keep your health.” The generals and
commanders filed out, leaving only the expedition
members in the tent.

Ubilitare, Buynar, Blarn, Worlef, Vilmar, Reichet and
Bratif, all low ranking members of the army before the
expedition, saluted the commanders and went to take on
their positions as generals in their respective armies. The
remaining eight members of the expedition would make up
the commanding body, answering only to Tych and
Lendril.

As they cleaned up the maps, a neftiran soldier burst
into the tent. “Commanders, General Zif has come out of
surgery and his coma. The chief cleric says he is asking for
you.”

“Take us to him, soldier.”

“Yes, Commander Tendelbro, follow me.” The soldier
led them down winding corridors of tents to the hospital
tent, marked with the picture of an herb known for its
healing properties. The neftir indicated they should enter
and left.

Zif greeted Tendelbro in Seftrelian. “Hello, My Friend.
Sorry about this. I didn’t want to see you next from an
infirmary bed. Those buggers laid a good trap.”

Tendelbro responded in the same language, Findra
being the only other person in the room to understand the
mix of neftir, mendar and human. “You were careless, Zif.
You strayed too far from your squad.” He switched to
common Li. “You, of course, have met everybody except
Cort di Corl.”

Cort bowed. “It’s good to finally meet you, General
Zif. The Efre neftir have been telling me about your
expertise in the wilderness and organizing mountain raids.
Your services will be welcome with Tych’s battle plan.”

“Is that magician around?”

“No, he is training Lake’s army. It had no command.
Nandel and Blard are the only humans from the expedition
already here,” Findra answered.

“Is the King of Murlan here?”

Rendind shook his head. “His army marches but he has
chosen to stay in Murlan until spring. Why do you ask?”

“My mother taught me the prophesy of the Circle of
Thirteen:

The Twelfth link will have no heir.

His Life is most valuable to Li for he will be
pure of heart and will carry great weight in naming
the thirteenth link king of all Li, the fifteen
kingdoms united by his mighty victory over Evil.

King Vrekian is the twelfth link, and with Lake’s ruler
dying, Tych is the thirteenth. The King’s survival is at risk:
Rangdor knows prophesies, too.”

“Not all prophesies come out as predicted. The Prince
of Lake has no heir and he will soon be king,” urged Andri.

“If he believes the prophecy, and with him you never
know,” added Nandel, “I’m sure Tych has taken care of it.
Perhaps a few of our missing members are working on it
right now.”

“I would think Tych would take care of it personally.”
Everybody jumped as they turned to find Morg the speaker.

“Hello, Father.” Cort approached his father as Findra
dropped to one knee and bowed.

“Hello son, Commander Findra. I...”

Before the man could finish, Zif sat up and said,
“That’s not Morg! Get back.”

The expedition members suddenly seemed frozen in
time. “It’s too late for them, General. They have noted me
as Morg. Say goodbye to your friends, Zif Aflend.”

Zif dove at the imposter but grabbed air. He landed and
howled in pain. Two human soldiers walked in as he stood.
His hand flew to his bandaged ribs as he carefully rose to
his lanky six feet. “Get Ubilitare of the pemilons for me
but do it carefully so as not to arouse panic. If I hear rumor
of this too soon I’ll have you two locked up. Go, quickly!”

A few minutes later, Ubilitare trotted in. “What do you
need, Commander?”

“The Commander-Generals have been abducted. We
must somehow get in touch with Tych. You are most
friendly with our enchanted allies and the eagles. Do it
your own way, but whatever you do, do it as soon as
possible. And get me that damn cleric.” He grimaced and
lay back down on his bed.

“Tych will be here within an hour, Sir.” With this
Ubilitare left the shocked Seftrelian Commander. After
getting the cleric, Ubilitare went straight to Bnad. As soon
as the eagle heard the problem, he rose swiftly into the
clouds.

Corl jumped to see the ruler of the eagles swooping
down towards his window. The giant bird perched on the
windowsill, barely able to stay in the space he filled. “The
Commander-Generals have been taken by a magical being.
Commander Zif has requested Tych’s presence. You can
get to him the fastest.”

“Thank you, Lord Bnad. I will leave immediately.”
With this he picked up his staff and teleported from the
room.

The appearance of Corl on the battlefield startled
everybody. Tych used telepathy to say,
I shall go
immediately.

Alone?

Yes, with only my staff and Gaylin.

You will need Lendril.

I need her here more. Also, she will interfere with
following the trail of good energy the commanders left
behind.

You are wise, my grandson. Go to Zif, he will help.
Everybody jumped again to see the ancient wizard
disappear.

Tych went straight to Lendril and explained the
situation. After she scolded him and covered him with
kisses, he vanished. Ofeldar seemed only mildly surprised
to see Tych appear in their inn room. “Lioness, I may not
be here to visit for a while, but lay down the pattern every
night. My life may depend on it.” She nodded in response
and he disappeared.

Zif’s eyes just about exploded from his head in surprise
as Ubilitare’s last words came true. Less than an hour after
the abduction, here stood Tych, coming from over six
hundred miles away. “You are indeed powerful, my friend.
How can I help?”

“I need to stand where the abductor stood and every
neighboring tent needs to be empty as well as the ground
between. Have Quez and Keln nearby.”

Zif hobbled out with some help and carried out Tych’s
orders. He took Tych to the spot the imposter had stood
and wished him luck before joining the assembled
onlookers in safety. An eternity seemed to pass.